Technology in the Humanities

As a teacher of English and History, I employ a huge range of digital technology in my classroom. I am always looking for new things to try and new ways to use current resources. Luckily, there are so many fantastic resources around to use in so many different ways. I do feel that at times, however, I am doing a lot of researching, evaluating, checking for hidden dangers, sequencing and so on for each digital tool! I also know that this is my job, but what if it could be easier to do?

The points that Okojie, Olinzock, & Okojie-Boulder raise made a lot of sense, there are quite a few barriers for classroom teachers in implementing digital learning tools meaningfully, specifically the ‘narrow view‘ of how technology in education should be integrated (2006). So perhaps, instead of continuously searching and using new technologies, I could be utilising the ones I know better! Well that is certainly something to explore.

Also, how many teachers truly consider the inclusion of students in the process (Okojie, Olinzock, & Okojie-Boulder, 2006)? I know from personal experience that I have some students who are more apt than others in certain areas, and so I use their expertise in supporting other students, but I don’t feel quite right about it – I think that sometimes, I am doing them a disservice – consolidating their knowledge, but not necessarily extending their knowledge, into becoming creators of the knowledge. The article made me consider that perhaps I am not fully considering the varying proficiencies, learning styles and learning pace in my differentiation for lessons (Okojie, Olinzock, & Okojie-Boulder, 2006). After all, I differentiate in all my other pedagogic areas – why should this be any different?! It was really a light bulb moment and one that I am keen to explore further in my teaching.

Embedding technology into pedagogy, thinking about the how and why, in meaningful ways will no doubt be a challenge for many teachers, adding problems rather than eliminating them, and many teachers are under-prepared for the task (Okojie, Olinzock, & Okojie-Boulder, 2006, Soujah, 2014). Unfortunately, this impacts greatly on the access to technology that some of our students have, especially those that come from ICT illiterate families, or don’t have access to technology at home, usually our lower socio-economic households (Roblyer, & Doering, 2014, Soujah, 2014). I have witnessed this first hand, teaching students who possess minimal, low-order skills, have no interest, or capability to engage with technology in meaningful, knowledge making ways. These are the students who will suffer upon leaving the schooling systems, and finding difficulty in attaining jobs or catching up the gap of technology skills that are required for the workforce (Soujah, 2014).

It is imperative that we, as educators, provide these skills and knowledge for our students. And we should do it seamlessly, so that technology does not seem as an add on, but a valued part of meaningful 21st Century pedagogy (Okojie, Olinzock, & Okojie-Boulder, 2006).

References

Okojie, M. C., Olinzock, A. A., & Okojie-Boulder, T. C. (2006). The pedagogy of technology integration.

Roblyer, M., and Doering, A. (2014). Pearson New International Edition. Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching. Harlow, England: Pearson.

Soujah, S. (2014). Technology Integration in Schools Is We Overinvested and Underprepared?. International Journal of Information and Education Technology, 4(5), 444-447.